Belated Ancestor of the day: grandmother Alma Marie Onstad Blixrud, born July 15th, 1890 in rural Spring Grove, MN and d 12 Jul 1969 in Alexandria, MN (just days shy of her 79th birthday). In just over a week from now, descendants of all six children of Alma and John Benjamin Blixrud (22 Jan 1883 – 16 Jun 1956 in Barrett, MN) will gather near Alexandria, where Alma and John retired in 1950. We’ll tour around Barrett: the old homestead, the district 14 rural school, Immanuel Lutheran Church, the Pavilion, and more including the Grant County Historical Society museum in EL. We’ll laugh, reminisce, and be thankful for our history and heritage. I strongly suspect there will be food involved.
Alma Onstad abt 1915
Alma Onstad and John Blixrud Wedding Photo 22 Jan 1916
After grandma’s death, my family received a letter from my mother’s Aunt Agnes Ackerson Johnson, who would have been a contemporary of Alma. Agnes, a wonderful writer, gently marveled at the changes which took place over Alma’s lifetime: the transition from horses to automobiles, to mankind’s journey into space. In fact, Grandma missed the first moon landing by mere days. And just think of the changes since 1969!
Time marches on, but history and heritage ground us as we move forward.